BROCKTON, Mass. — Rosemary Schneider said she was with her brother, Stuart Smith, after he was struck by an SUV while walking along a Brockton street, and then attacked by the driver now charged with his murder.
Vasco Semedo, 45, was held without bail on Monday, accused of intentionally hitting the 50-year-old Smith with his SUV before getting out of the vehicle and striking Smith with a brick more than 20 times, prosecutors said.
“Just awful, just going through it. I don’t really have any words,” said Schneider, younger sister of Smith, who spent her brother’s last moments by his side. He later died from his injuries.
“It’s a very gruesome, a very heinous act, intentional act,” Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz said.
Prosecutors said surveillance video captured the incident, during which Semedo hit Smith with his SUV, backed up, and then drove into him again.
“This defendant drove directly at the victim as he ran away from the car striking him a second time,” Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague said in court.
That is when they say things went from bad to worse. Prosecutors said after Semedo struck a brick wall, he got out of the SUV and repeatedly hit Smith in the head with a brick while he lay on the ground.
“He took a brick off the hood of the car. He went over to where the victim was laying on the ground and struck him over the head with that brick over 20 times,” Sprague said.
Cruz commended about six witnesses who held Semedo on scene until police arrived.
Smith’s family, including his brother and sister, were in court on Monday. They were deeply saddened and disturbed by what they heard in court and said they want justice for their brother.
“I saw the after-effects so, I mean, that makes sense. But I mean, what do you say?” Schneider said. “You know, just terrible, just a terrible tragedy.”
She added, “It’s very unfortunate, just very unfortunate how humans are sometimes, just sad.”
Brockton Police and State Police troopers responded to a 911 call reporting a pedestrian crash on North Main Street around 9 a.m. Saturday morning.
When police arrived, they found the driver of the SUV, later identified as Semedo, being detained by witnesses at the scene, according to prosecutors.
Smith was initially rushed to Good Samaritan Medical Center before being flown to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where he was pronounced dead.
Damian Smith, the victim’s brother, said Smith dealt with lifelong mental health issues after being struck by a car as a child.
He hopes everyone will remember his brother’s kind heart and how he made people smile.
“Stuart’s legacy is a testament of facing adversity with courage and love,” Damian Smith said.
Semedo will be back in court for a pretrial hearing in May.
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